Carton handle

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is an improved handle for a carton, for example a milk carton. The handle is comprised of a sheet of folded material surrounded by a plastic film.

United States Patent Carlson et a1.

CARTON HANDLE Inventors: Richard W. Carlson, Warwick, N.Y.; Glenn A. Nesty, Convent Station, NJ.

Assignee: International Paper Company, New

York, NY.

Filed: June 14, 1973 App]. No.: 369,854

U.S. Cl. 229/17 G; 16/116 R; 224/45 P; 229/52 A; 229/52 AL; 294/27 l-l; 294/31.2

Int. Cl B65d /74; B65d 5/46; B65d /22 Field of Search..... 294/31 A, 31.2, 27 H, 27 R; 224/ 11, 45 P; 16/116 R; 229/87 R, 52 A,

52 AL, 54 R, 17 G; /33; /57

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Crary 229/52 A May 20, 1975 2,603,407 7/1952 Crary 229/52 A X 2,682,990 7/1954 Crary.... 229/52 A X 2,717,065 9/1955 Nelson.. 190/57 2,788,169 4/1957 Leval.... 229/52 AC 3,095,641 7/1963 Siegel.... 190/57 X 3,361,333 1/1968 Stuart 229/52 AL 3,384,292 5/1968 Hidding.v 229/52 AL Primary Examiner-Wi1liam 1. Price Assistant ExaminerStephen P. Garbe Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Alfred L. Michaelsen [5 7 ABSTRACT Disclosed is an improved handle for a carton, for example a milk carton. The handle is comprised of a sheet of folded material surrounded by a plastic film.

4 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PMENTED MY 2 0 75 SHEET 10! 2 CARTON HANDLE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Cartons or containers provided with carrying handles are old in the container art. Two patents which show carrying handles for containers are US. Pat. Nos. 3,373,924 and 3,700,160.

Although the prior art discloses a number of forms and structures for container carrying handles, all such carrying handles appear to share the characteristic that their utility is limited to a single function, namely to act as a carrying handle. Thus, once this function has been completed, the handle per se is of no further utility and is discarded. This characteristic of a single utility is particularly true with respect to carrying handles used in combination with containers or cartons which are used once and then discarded, for example milk cartons.

The invention disclosed herein is an improved carry ing handle which is used in combination with a carton, for example a milk carton. The improvement of the instant invention resides in the fact that the handle is constructed of a material which is useful for functions other than acting as a carrying handle. Thus, whereas prior art carrying handles performed only a single function, the carrying handle of the instant invention not only functions adequately as a carrying handle but, additionally, may be used for other purposes when it is detached from its associated container.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A carrying handle associated with a disposable container is comprised of a sheet of folded material enclosed within a plastic film. Prior to disposing of the container associated with the handle, the handle is removed and the sheet of folded material removed from the plastic cover or envelope. Thereafter, the sheet of material may be used for a plurality of purposes, for example as a wiping cloth.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of milk carton with a carrying handle attached thereto.

FIG. 2 is a view, in section, taken along the section lines 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view ofa component of the instant invention.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the section line 44 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the instant invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown an exemplary embodiment of the invention wherein a carrying handle 13 is affixed to a gable top container 10. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the gable top container is of the type generally used to package milk.

Referring in more detail to FIG. 1, it will be seen that the container 10 includes a gable top 11 at the top thereof. Further, the gable closure 11 terminates in a ridge 12. The ridge 12 is generally comprised of a plurality of layers of paperboard which is the material typi cally used to fabricate a container of the type shown in FIG. 1. Thus, since the ridge I2 is substantially solid and the upper portion thereof is not exposed to the fluid packaged within the container, the ridge provides a convenient surface to which a handle may be attached without impairing the integrity of the container. As shown in FIG. 1, the carrying handle 13 is in the form of an open loop, both ends of which are disposed adjacent to each other and are on the same side of the ridge 112. The ends of the loop are attached or secured to the ridge 12 as at 14. As will become more apparent hereinafter the nature of the instant invention is such that any one of a number of well known attachment mechanisms may be employed to affix the handle 13 to the ridge 12 of the container 10.

Referring to the sectional view shown in FIG. 2, it will be seen that the handle 13 is comprised of a folded sheet of material 19 which is encased within an envelope. As shown in FIG. 2, the envelope includes an upper sheet 18 and a lower sheet 17. The lower and upper sheets 17 and 18 are preferably a polyethylene film. By using a heat sealable film such as polyethylene, the upper and lower sheets may be longitudinally heat sealed as shown at 20, 21.. Similarly, although not shown in the drawings, the transverse edges of the film may also be heat sealed so as to form an envelope surrounding the folded sheet of material 19.

Referring to FIG. 3, the interior sheet of material 19 is initially in the form of a rectangular sheet of flat material which is then folded as shown in FIG. 3, i.e., FIG. 3 shows the sheet of material 19 partially folded. When the folds shown in FIG. 3 have been made, the sheet 19 is flattened to form a relatively flat, narrow rectangular strip of material which, because of the folding, is comprised of multiple plies.

Referring again to FIG. 2, it will now be appreciated that the handle 13 is comprised of materials which may be pierced with relative ease. Thus, the handle 13, when mounted on the container as shown in FIG. 1, may be secured to the container by the use of a staple. However, it has been discovered that when the handle of this invention is secured to a gable top carton by a staple, as shown in FIG. 1, it is critical that both ends of the loop are disposed upon the same side of the gable ridge and, additionally, that the closed end of the staple is adjacent to the handle and the crimped end of the staple is adjacent to the other side of the gable. Thus, referring to FIG. 4, it will be seen that the closed end 14a of the staple 14 is adjacent to the outer end of the loop which forms the handle 13 while the crimped end 14b of the staple 141 is adjacent to and grips the other side of the gable ridge 12. If this arrangement is not utilized, e.g. if an end of the closed loop is gripped by or exposed to the crimped end of the staple, it has been found that the handle will fail. The ease of attachment which accrues from the use of this invention is significant because complex handle affixing machinery is not required. Indeed, one may appreciate the significance of this aspect of the invention by considering the relatively complex machinery required to attach prior art carrying handles to containers such as milk cartons. For example, disclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,373,924 is a solid, polymer handle wherein the handle includes a handle mounting stud which must be deformed or coldheaded by appropriate machinery to secure the handle to the container.

Although ease of attachment is a desirable feature inherent in the instant invention, a still more significant feature resides in the additional utility provided by a handle which embodies this invention. Thus, referring to FIG. 1, after the milk packaged within the container has been consumed, the handle 13 is removed from the container and the container is then discarded. After the handle 13 has been removed, the covering envelope is stripped away and the folded sheet of material 19 is removed. Thereafter, the sheet of material 19 may be unfolded and used for a plurality of purposes, for example as a dusting cloth or a wiper. With regard to the material which constitutes the sheet 19, we prefer to use a non-woven material. The use ofa non-woven material for the sheet 19 is advantageous for a number of reasons. For example, the manufacturing processes by which non-woven materials are made are such that the material produced thereby is generally, relatively low -in cost. Additionally, the nature of many of these processes is such that the non-woven material produced is directionally oriented with respect to strength. For example, non-woven materials produced by wet-laid processes are often significantly stronger in the so called machine direction. Thus, referring to FIG. 3, assuming that the sheet of material 19 shown therein is a nonwoven material, if the longitudinal dimension of the sheet corresponds to the machine direction of the sheet, the resulting narrow, rectangular strip will possess substantial, longitudinal tensile strength. Of course, it will be appreciated that a maximization of the longitudinal tensile strength of the narrow, rectangular strip of material is desirable since, when the handle 13 of FIG. 1 is used to carry the container 10, the handle will be subjected to a tensile stress.

Of course, whatever form of material is selected for the sheet 19, the strength characteristics thereof will be selected and adjusted so as to withstand the stresses to which the handle will be subjected. The selection of the required characteristics, such as the basis weight of the sheet, the strength of the sheet and the number of folds are matters which are within the compass of those skilled in the art and therefore will not be described in detail. Suffice it to say, however, that it has been found that adequate non-woven materials can be readily manufactured which will meet the requirements heretofore described. In this connection, it is interesting to note that when such a handle is employed, substantially all of the weight supported thereby is carried by the folded sheet of material 19. Thus, it appears that the film envelope encasing the folded sheet of material does not have to be depended upon to contribute any strength to the handle. As such, relatively thin films may be employed, for example polyethylene films having a thickness of only 0.5 mils. In this manner, the film envelope will protect the appearance of the handle. Protection of the appearance of the handle is important, and represents another advantageous aspect of this invention. Thus, the sheet of material 19 may be provided with a pleasing design and attractive color schemes. The handle therefore may be esthetically appealing and the appearance will be protected by the thin film envelope. Additionally, the plastic film envelope is structurally important. For example, if the thin film envelope were omitted, the folded material portion of the handle might be wetted which may seriously compromise the strength of the material, particularly, if the material is a non-woven material.

Referring to FIG. 5, there is shown another embodiment of the instant invention wherein a carrying handle constructed as heretofore described is shown as attached to a flat top container. In this embodiment, the plastic envelope surrounding the material which constitutes the handle, is secured to opposite side walls of the container by, for example, a hot melt adhesive. The embodiment of FIG. 5 is useful when the contents of a container weigh less than approximately 2 or 3 pounds.

Although the folded sheet of material 19 is shown in the drawings as being folded, it will be understood that an equivalent construction would be obtained by rolling the sheet.

Although a specific embodiment of the instant invention has hereinbefore been described, it will be appreciated that other forms thereof will occur to those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains without, nevertheless, departing from the scope of this invention as defined in the claims appended hereto.

We claim:

1. In combination with a disposable container having a carrying handle secured thereto, the improvement wherein said handle comprises:

a. a sheet of initially flat fabric material which has been folded upon itself a plurality of times to form a narrow rectangular strip, said sheet being useful as a wiping cloth when it is unfolded; and

b. a plastic film surrounding said strip.

2. In combination with a gable top carton, with aridge at the top of said gable, having a carrying handle secured to said ridge, the improvement wherein said handle comprises:

a. a sheet of initially flat fabric material which has been folded upon itself a plurality of times to form a narrow rectangular strip, said sheet being useful as a wiping cloth when it is unfolded; and

b. a plastic film surrounding said strip.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said material is a non-woven material.

4. In combination with a gable top carton, with a ridge at the top of said gable, having a carrying handle secured to said ridge, the improvement wherein said handle comprises:

a. an open loop, both ends of said loop being disposed on the same side of said gable ridge;

b. a staple passing through both ends of said loop and through said gable ridge, the closed end of said staple disposed adjacent to the ends of said loop and the crimped end of said staple disposed adjacent to and gripping said ridge; and

c. said handle loop comprising:

i. a sheet of initially flat fabric material which has been folded upon itself a plurality of times to form a narrow rectangular strip, said sheet being useful as a wiping cloth when it is unfolded; and

ii. a plastic film surrounding said strip. 

1. In combination with a disposable container having a carrying handle secured thereto, the improvement wherein said handle comprises: a. a sheet of initially flat fabric material which has been folded upon itself a plurality of times to form a narrow rectangular strip, said sheet being useful as a wiping cloth when it is unfolded; and b. a plastic film surrounding said strip.
 2. In combination with a gable top carton, with a ridge at the top of said gable, having a carrying handle secured to said ridge, the improvement wherein said handle comprises: a. a sheet of initially flat fabric material which has been folded upon itself a plurality of times to form a narrow rectangular strip, said sheet being useful as a wiping cloth when it is unfolded; and b. a plastic film surrounding said strip.
 3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said material is a non-woven material.
 4. In combination with a gable top carton, with a ridge at the top of said gable, having a carrying handle secured to said ridge, the improvement wherein said handle comprises: a. an open loop, both ends of said loop being disposed on the same side of said gable ridge; b. a staple passing through both ends of said loop and through said gable ridge, the closed end of said staple disposed adjacent to the ends of said loop and the crimped end of said staple disposed adjacent to and gripping said ridge; and c. said handle loop comprising: i. a sheet of initially flat fabric material which has been folded upon itself a plurality of times to form a narrow rectangular strip, said sheet being useful as a wiping cloth when it is unfolded; and ii. a plastic film surrounding said strip. 